David Dyer & The Crooked Smile Bandhttp://crookedsmileband.com
North Carolina Alt CountryMon, 24 Sep 2012 18:48:25 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1A musical blessing flows through a Raleigh bandhttp://crookedsmileband.com/a-musical-blessing-flows-through-a-raleigh-band/
http://crookedsmileband.com/a-musical-blessing-flows-through-a-raleigh-band/#commentsSat, 01 Sep 2012 20:58:58 +0000David Dyerhttp://crookedsmileband.com?p=236Continue reading →]]>Courtesy Birgetta Wheeler of the News & Observer
In his every gesture – eyes fervently closing, sure fingers working the guitar, toes tapping its open case – David Dyer displays how deeply he feels the words he is singing, words that he believes God gave him in whole songs of praise and healing. For the longtime musician and award-winning songwriter, creating music usually is a piecemeal matter of combining hooks he can’t get out of his head with a line here or a melody there. But the 10 original songs on “Taproot,” the third CD from Dyer and his Crooked Smile Band, were gifts with no assembly required.

The boys in the Crooked Smile Band ain’t no spring chickens. With ages in the five-piece, fourteen-year old Americana group ranging from 41 to 62, these guys have definitely been around the block. “We’ve all been playing most of our lives and come from very diverse musical backgrounds. It keeps things interesting because we all bring a different slant to the compositions,” says David Dyer, principal songwriter and founder of the group. “Yet one thing we have in common is a deep love for making music.”

Gratitude and praise are elemental components of the group’s latest record, a collection of rootsy-gospel tunes titled, “Taproot.” It all began in the fall of 2007 when Bernie (Petteway, the band’s lead guitarist and son of the late Methodist Minister Warren Petteway), invited David to attend a bible-study in which he was involved. “At least part of why I went was because Bernie is a fabulous guitarist and at the time was only playing with us now and then. I thought this might be a good way to endear myself to him and get him in the band full-time. Five years of bible-study later, I guess it’s safe to say God had a bit more in mind.”

David has been writing songs most of his life and group members have performed in a variety of rock, country, folk and jazz bands over their 220-plus collective years in music. Somewhere during David’s study of the book of Matthew and particularly the book of John, he began receiving songwriting inspiration of a decidedly more spiritual nature. “I had written spirituals over the years but this was just one after the other and many of these songs seemed to just write themselves.” The Spirit’s muse combined with the joy of creating music with a terrific group of guys hatched the idea of Taproot. “We set out to make a record of thanks and praise for the gift of music. It was my hope that we might also capture live some of the joy and beauty we experience playing together to open up musical channels in people to receive God’s message and bring them closer to Him.”

As they began to perform the songs, Hayes Barton United Methodist Church (of which David and Bernie are members), invited the band to play for a spiritual renewal event they were hosting. It went over well and felt so right playing in the sanctuary that the group asked if they could come back and record the bones of the record there live. Hayes Barton welcomed them and most of Taproot came out of those three nights of live sessions with overdubs done later at Crewcuts and the Burlap Palace in Raleigh, NC. There were many instances when David knew they were part of something greater than the normal recording project. Songs just flowed and more than once he would write something and then shortly thereafter encounter previously unread scripture in his bible study mirroring what he had written earlier. Band members from varying beliefs came together. People to help work on the project materialized. People started asking for the record. And then it all just stopped.

For about twelve months after recording in the church they couldn’t get schedules to mesh and just couldn’t move the project forward. “It seemed the harder we pushed, the less progress we made. It was frustrating yet we definitely learned something about patience during this time. A friend reminded me of God’s preparation of King David while he was still a shepherd and how we too are not to despise our time in the pasture. Then just as suddenly, everything cranked up again and we finished the whole thing in just a few more weeks. I guess God wasn’t ready for it to be done until then.”

Now that Taproot is complete, to keep the emphasis on thanks and service the band is giving all proceeds from the first 1,000 records sold to two wonderful inner-city youth programs; WeeCare (weecareinc.org) and Haven House (havenhousenc.org).

“It was a phenomenal experience working with the guys on this project,” says David. “It definitely brought the band closer and I believe we all feel we gave it our best shot. Whatever happens from here is up to the Man Upstairs. I hope it does some good.”

]]>http://crookedsmileband.com/highlights-over-the-years/feed/0Writing Songs, Making Musichttp://crookedsmileband.com/writing-songs-making-music/
http://crookedsmileband.com/writing-songs-making-music/#commentsSun, 22 Jul 2007 09:10:01 +0000David Dyerhttp://crookedsmileband.com?p=240Continue reading →]]>David Glenn Dyer has definitely found his musical niche. He’s a singer-songwriter who’s quite comfy in the burgeoning Americana genre. Dyer isn’t flying solo, however. He’s been working with his band — The Crooked Smile Band — for several years, and he’s been working his last album, Crossroads Grocery, since 2004.

]]>http://crookedsmileband.com/writing-songs-making-music/feed/0Crossroads Grocery Receives 4 Star Review by Maverick Country Music Magazinehttp://crookedsmileband.com/crossroads-grocery-receives-4-star-review-by-maverick-country-music-magazine/
http://crookedsmileband.com/crossroads-grocery-receives-4-star-review-by-maverick-country-music-magazine/#commentsFri, 18 Nov 2005 05:17:38 +0000David Dyerhttp://crookedsmileband.com?p=250Continue reading →]]>North Carolina-based David Glenn Dyer is a storyteller who delivers a wholesome blend of
country infused roots-rock on CROSSROADS GROCERY, his first solo album. Over the years he has played with a variety bluegrass, country and rock bands and currently performs both as a solo artist and with his Raleigh-based group, David Dyer and the Crooked Smile Band.

]]>http://crookedsmileband.com/crossroads-grocery-receives-4-star-review-by-maverick-country-music-magazine/feed/0New To Youhttp://crookedsmileband.com/new-to-you/
http://crookedsmileband.com/new-to-you/#commentsFri, 04 Mar 2005 21:12:57 +0000David Dyerhttp://crookedsmileband.com?p=245Continue reading →]]>David Glenn Dyer from the Carolinas has been making his own unique style of country and
roots music for the past thirty-odd years, but it was only late last year that he got around to releasing his first solo album. CROSSROADS GROCERY is a compelling collection of rural life vignettes set to inventive musical arrangements and sung in a seasoned vocal styling.

“I’ve been doing [this] for a long time now.” David explains “I was very young when I first
started with the acoustic guitar and in the early days played in a bluegrass band.